Back in April, folks at the San Jacinto Historical Museum in Texas
started a White House petition drive to have the leg returned to
Texas.

But Illinois is digging in its heel and not letting go.

After all, this isn’t the first time
some foreign power has sought our leg.

Back during World War II, Democrats wanted to give the leg to Mexico
as a gesture of good will, but Republicans gave that idea the boot,
saying their opponents “didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Santa Anna isn’t particularly liked on either side of the border.
Texans view him as the villain who led the slaughter at the Alamo.
Mexicans view him as the leader who lost much of their country’s
territory to the United States.

Despite this antipathy, he hasn’t been relegated to a historical
footnote.

Throughout his time in Mexican politics, Santa Anna managed to
overthrow the Mexican government, be exiled from his country and
lead Mexico into a fiscal crisis 11 times.

And you thought Rod Blagojevich was bad.

But Santa Anna was worse – and I’m not pulling your leg.

Scott Reeder is a veteran statehouse reporter and a journalist with
Illinois News Network, a project of the Illinois Policy Institute.
He can be reached at sreeder@illinoispolicy.org. Readers can
subscribe to his free political newsletter by going to ILNEWS.ORG or
follow his work on Twitter @scottreeder